


Generation Next

by Blue_Hood



Series: Children of Arcade [5]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Fantastic Four, Inhumans (TV 2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Character Death Fix, Future Fic, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Magic, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Character Death, Pregnancy, Reunions, Rituals, Superpowers, Terrigenesis (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29085423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: "What's past is prologue" William ShakespeareStarting with Luna Maximoff's Terrigenesis, this is a look at the world her generation will inherit
Relationships: Auran/Maximus Boltagon, Crystal Amaquelin/Pietro Maximoff, Darcy Lewis/Loki, Gordon & Kora (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Gordon & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Gordon/Raina (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Jen (Inhumans) & Louise Fisher, Jen (Inhumans)/Karnak, Jiaying/Cal Zabo, Lorna Dane & Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff, Louise Fisher/Gorgon Petragon, Luna Maximoff/Calvin Sen (OC), Medusalith Amaquelin/Blackagar Boltagon, Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff, Susan Storm/Namor the Sub-Mariner
Series: Children of Arcade [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1742785





	1. Prologue - Calvin

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to force myself to finish Sniper before posting this but I couldn't focus on that story and this one just sorta flowed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calvin Sen is supposed to take over as head of his local council. To prepare for this job, he has learned a lot about a lot of things. When the Genetic Council tries to threaten his Terrigenesis Ceremony, he gets a chance to show what he knows

Calvin Sen was three years away from his Terrigenesis Ceremony when Aunt Daisy began grooming him to inherit her office. As a council member, his dad was able to tutor him on the practical side of his future duties as head of Lai Shi's Council of Elders, not just what the law said.

Since he was supposed to undergo Terrigenesis in Attilan, his mom took him up at the start of the year before his ceremony to meet with the Genetic Council. They were a lot scarier than the Council of Elders and Calvin wondered how they represented their constituencies, he doubted the Genetic Council members worked with their people outside their Council duties or even talked to them. He felt like he was on trial, his mom defending the Elders’ decision to approve his candidacy until Cal realized something, “If you doubt the Lai Shi Council’s ability to perform their duties then you should inform the King and Queen as their court. Otherwise, you will have to accept their authority as equal to yours under law. Violation of such law would result in the immediate termination of all members and a restructuring overseen by the next most senior council in Attilan, the Lai Shi Council of Elders.” After a bit of blustering, they conceded the point.

Pietro grabbed Calvin as he was exiting the Council Chamber and took him to Holly’s workspace before going back for Raina. “We saw the whole thing,” said Medusa. “The Genetic Council wasn’t even supposed to review your candidacy, they were supposed to walk you through the Ceremony.”

“They didn’t do that.” Calvin asked “How do constituencies work in Attilan? In Lai Shi, council members hold jobs outside the council, they live and work with the people they represent. I can’t imagine any of those guys doing that.”

Pietro said “Neither can I. How about instead of restructuring, we make it a requirement that they have to live among their constituency and have the joint council fill in until everyone meets that requirement?”

“Or just enforce the faithful service standard with the threat of disbanding the Genetic Council to be replaced by the joint council?” suggested Calvin. “If you force them to take on jobs outside the council, first they’ll fight it and waste everyone’s time so you have to tell the people what you’re doing or risk them claiming they were sent to take over. After that, they’ll make up reasons for emergency council meetings, like extra reviews of Inhuman candidates, to get out of work and when they are at work, they’ll use their ability to deny an Inhuman potential Terrigenesis for blackmail so they’re never actually working. In the end, you’ll have to restructure anyway and more than that, you’ll have to find people who won’t abuse the power, which is kinda hard." The Royal Family was staring “I’ve been taking lessons to prepare for my role as head of council for almost three years, I know the names of every state, every head of council and their heir. I know the order of succession, forwards and back, and all three forms of lawful succession. I know the protocols for everything from an emergency meeting to a food shortage, economic sanctions, state dinners, proper address of foreign and alien royals and representatives. I’ve learned about a handful of other kingdoms’ succession laws and how the Accords work in practice, our strongest allies and enemies, which ones are sticklers for protocol and which ones are laid back. I’m on a first name basis with every member of the Lai Shi Council because of my dad and I know how to address council members in formal settings. I even have freaking funeral rights memorized along with a lot of laws. A year after my Terrigenesis, I’m gonna start standing in on council meetings. I’ll have to stand in on a certain number every year with that number going down until I inherit. Three is the bare minimum number of council meetings I have to attend once I start standing in. It’s called standing in because I don’t get a seat on the council. Anyone who is at least thirty can file a petition to bring an issue to the Council of Elders. Anyone over the age of sixty can petition to participate in a council debate. To file a petition, you must have been Inhuman for a decade and a citizen for half that minimum."

The Royal Family exchanged looks before Pietro admitted “You know more about the workings of Attilan than I do. Why wait a year?”

“The law says I need full, demonstrable control of my gift and to be Inhuman for a year to inherit with exceptions made on the second one if my predecessor dies before I meet it. I’ll stand in on meetings to stay up to date on council matters until I take over for Aunt Daisy.”

“Right.”

Calvin and Raina stayed through the announcement broadcast throughout the capital sharing the faithful service standard and informing the people that it would be enforced. Afterwards, they went home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of world building, a lot of Attilan infrastructure is touched on. In this story, Jen was born Holly Ann Radcliffe, for anyone who forgot, the reason she no longer goes by Jen will be explained in a few chapters. Please let me know if anything comes off as confusing.


	2. Ceremony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luna and Calvin undergo Terrigenesis together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've read the tags, you might know what to expect of this chapter

Calvin Sen and Luna Maximoff shared a Terrigenesis Ceremony in the capital city of Attilan. Aside from Pietro, who flanked Crystal in front of the box holding the Terrigen in between the two Terrigenesis Chambers, Luna’s earth-born family stood with Cal’s family behind them while most of the Royal Family stood on a dias in the front of the room. Luna and Cal smiled as they stepped into the chambers. Crystal and Pietro shared the duty of inserting crystals into the slots, Pietro always taking the chamber on their right while his wife took the one on their left. In this case, Luna’s father slipped the crystal into her chamber while her mother put one in Cal’s then with years of practice, they calmly walked up to the dias and took their places, waiting out their daughter’s transformation.

Maximus muttered under his breath “Empath,” when Luna freaked upon exiting the chamber. Black Bolt subtly grabbed his hand before he could use the almost universal gesture for telepathic aid (tapping his temple), the king’s meaning was clear- wait.

Calvin stumbled out of his chamber, equally worked up, and promptly let loose an energy blast wave that destroyed the chamber before Gordon teleported in front of his son, his own energy shield cancelling out the blast before it could hurt anyone. “And energy powers,” muttered Louise, who paused before adding “About a Class Four if he was a mutant.”

Maximus spoke up, “Luna, try calming Calvin, see if that works.” She spun to face Cal and wished he would calm down. When that didn’t work, she used several exercises her father taught her to calm down and wished Cal would copy her the way her dad had taught her. As she calmed down, Calvin did too. “Definitely an empath,” Maximus barely lowered his voice that time, despite the looks he got for saying it.

Luna looked at him “Empath?”

“A kind of psychic that specializes in emotions,” explained Maximus, “You can do to emotions what Louise can do to technology.” Tilting his head, he said “The world looks different now, doesn’t it?” Luna nodded “Perhaps your particular gift has affected your vision.”

His words reminded Daisy of a test she was supposed to run for Calvin, she pulled out a small piece of paper and held it up to her nephew “What color is this?” The answer was written on the back like a flashcard. “Green,” he answered before something occurred to him “I can see colors.”

Lincoln told him “I need you to move away from your dad so I can check your head.”

Usually when Lincoln used his powers to check on someone’s brain, they didn’t feel a thing because the electric charge he gave off to do it was miniscule. When he started to wave his hand over Calvin’s head, the boy giggled “That tickles,” and he couldn’t get a reading.

“Hold out your hand like this,” he held his hand out palm up and Calvin copied him then Lincoln held his own hand a few inches above Cal’s and shocked him “Did that hurt, at all?” The boy shook his head. “Now hold your hands like this,” he held both hands a few inches apart and summoned a charge, a brief flash of electricity arcing between his hands. Cal copied it with more energy dancing between his hands, mesmerizing the boy.

Then Lincoln walked over to Luna, “Can I check your head?” After a moment, she nodded and he waved his hand over her head, informing the Royal Family “You’ll need a brain scan to confirm but her brain doesn’t seem to be giving off more electricity. If anything, her neural pathways may have changed. I couldn’t get a read on Calvin but control doesn’t seem to be an issue,” he gestured to the boy, who was enamoured with the energy between his hands, moving his hands and watching the energy change. The Genetic Council seemed rather pleased with the results, powerful gifts were expected of the royal family. Similarly, Gordon’s mother founded Lai Shi and his father was a respected Elder; their children faced the same high expectations as any royal child.

Maximus was reminded of news he had to share with his family at dinner that night, he just had to hope Luna didn’t accidentally beat him to the punch. A year after the results of Maximus’s psychic test were shared with the Genetic Council, the most respected council in all of Attilan officially decided his new status did not change their previous ruling in regards to children. He was too busy teaching diplomats how to act around aliens and training deputy ambassadors to represent Terra on other worlds for either the ruling or the year of anticipation leading up to it to mean much. Maximus and Auran maintained an envious public image, balancing the seriousness expected of the heir and heiress to a throne such as Attilan’s with the puppy love expected of soulmates and making it look easy. Crystal and Pietro had yet to manage that feat, despite both being media darlings in their own right. So it was, almost a decade after the famous Talos mission, the Royal Family was unknowingly expecting a new potential heir or heiress.

When Luna was little, Pietro made sure Wanda and his father got to babysit plenty, the former would never have kids with her soulmate and the latter was a good grandfather to Dawn already. They were twenty and twenty-one, barely, when Luna was born. When asked if they would ever have more kids, Pietro liked to point out the huge age gap between him and Polaris or the gap between Crystal and Medusa then shrug and say only time would tell. Crystal, on the other hand, pointed out how hyper Pietro was and joked that she already had two kids. Louise and Gorgon managed to keep their own children, Alecto and Petras out of the public eye.

Auran wondered how people would take the news, since they had waited a while after getting the greenlight from the Genetic Council. If they had simply taken that greenlight, that would be one thing but they waited. Privately, she knew waited was too strong a word but that was what they wanted the world to see. They waited, they haven’t been trying for a baby since the Council decided Maximus’ psychic powers weren’t equal to the power of Black Bolt’s voice and gave the go ahead.

Following Luna’s Terrigenesis Ceremony, Maximus grabbed her hand once they were out of sight of the others, particularly Holly and Karnak, mentally projecting reassurances until they reached their office. Although the credit for Terra’s much improved relationship with other planets was given almost solely to Maximus, the Royal Family knew Auran also played a key role as Commander of the Talos.

In their office, two comfortable rolling chairs sat behind a large desk with small upholstered chairs across from them for guests, a couch occupied a corner next to the door- Maximus would admit to sleeping there sometimes when his work got away from him. Two laptops sat on the desk, a compact all-in-one office machine sat under the desk with the wire to plug in to their laptops dangling from the keyboard rack beside the cords from their laptop chargers. Maximus led Auran to the couch, well aware of the soundproofing and privacy protocols in place- Louise was the only one who could hear them and short of fleeing to another planet, that was unavoidable. Auran could relax in their office and Maximus could do most of his work from his phone so they could just sit there, Auran leaning against Maximus, until dinner. They both lost track of time when Auran spoke, “We should tell them tonight.”

“If that’s what you want.” Even though he could let her into his mind and vice versa, he conceded the point that non-psychics often found that disturbing and promised to only do it if she asked. Occasionally, she’d ask what he was thinking and he would simply show her. Ever since they discovered she was pregnant, Maximus had been nothing but patient- a trait she would have never really attributed to him before the exodus. He kept the ball in her court when it came to big decisions. Once they told the family, they might have to make some changes.

Auran knew Maximus would help her make very well-informed decisions and would not let her be pressured to do things the way other royals had, “We should, before Luna sees a change or something.”

“Odds are Wanda already knows,” countered Maximus easily, stating a fact like it was nothing. He put his phone away and looked directly at Auran, “We’ve agreed on names, right?”

“Ahura and Rhea, yes.” Ahura was the name his brother would have given his son, if Black Bolt were allowed to have children. Auran’s cousin Rhea was killed shortly after Terrigenesis gave her the gift of power negation, the Council going so far as to press to have her declared a traitor posthumously in order to cover it up. They weren’t close, in the end; Rhea claimed she had no family the day of her Ceremony, which was also the day of her uncle’s funeral but they were both raised by Auran’s father and in the end, Rhea was Auran’s only family. Maximus and Auran had long since decided to honor her given the chance, naming their daughter after her would be the perfect opportunity.

Maximus smirked, “How much of a circus do you think our announcement will cause?”

“Well, Luna’s just undergone Terrigenesis and I can’t think of anyone close to us with infants so probably huge.”

“Nevermind the significant age gaps within our family.” Regardless of gender, they agreed that the child would have the name Tam as a middle name, being Auran’s maiden name, the one thing her family held on to once Terrigenesis ceased to favor them. They had the logistics figured out, although they both knew there would be more to come.

“How do we break this to the family?”

Maximus tapped his head, “I could nudge the conversation that way or keep them away, whatever you want.” He meant it too. Despite outsider belief, if there was a power imbalance in their relationship, it favored Auran now.

“No nudging. If it doesn’t come up, we’ll just tell them.”

“Alright. No nudging.” Psychic nudging was an morally grey practice in which psychics exert a little influence to get what they want, often without realizing they are doing anything. Passive psychics are incapable of anything more than nudging, if they’re even capable of that much.

They had barely sat down at dinner when Luna told Auran “Your aura is weird, auras is what I was told to call people’s emotions.”

Holly suggested “Maybe it’s just a mix of emotions you haven’t deciphered yet.”

Auran shook her head and Maximus smiled, the latter speaking for the couple “Actually Luna might be onto something.”

Holly was silent for a few moments as she deciphered his words, catching on first “Congrats.”

Gorgon asked “Mind cluing us in?” A quick look around showed the rest of the family hadn’t caught up yet.

“She’s pregnant, Luna’s sensing the shifts that go with that.” Nobody needed elaboration on what shifts. Except for Maximus and Auran, they all remember Pietro running himself ragged for Crystal when she was pregnant with Luna. Although the current parents-to-be had been around for both of Louise’s pregnancies.

Speaking of, Luna was the first one to get excited about the prospect of a new cousin. Pietro had to remind her to calm down before she could overwhelm the happy couple. Maximus engaged Black Bolt in a psychic conversation briefly while the family went around offering congrats. Louise asked “I know it’s early but are you thinking about names?”

“Ahura, for a boy;” Maximus held Auran’s hand “And Rhea for a girl.”

They all knew the significance of both names, Rhea’s death was just one of the crimes that led to members of the Genetic Council being posthumously declared traitors. Pietro broke the silence “Have you figured out what you’re gonna tell the press? They might recognize Ahura, might even call it a common name for Inhuman royals but Rhea, you’ve kept your past hidden from them quite well.”

Holly said “It’s actually common practice for royals to wait until after the baby’s born to announce names. If you don’t want to tell the world about your cousin, it won’t be hard to justify keeping quiet on possible names.”

Pietro nodded, “That’s true. I think the last time we all did an interview together was,”

“Never,” Maximus cut in “Unless you somehow count the Olympics as an interview. You might have announced Luna together but Auran and I weren’t even in this solar system.”

“Right.”

Triton and Dorma shared a look before Triton said “Auran’s not the only one expecting.” Luna gave congrats, excited over the prospect of two little cousins, but kept calm enough that Pietro didn’t feel a need to remind her to be careful. They were all happy for both couples, although Holly couldn’t help updating the order of succession in her mind.

When asked about names, Dorma said “Aquaria for a girl, in honor of my late cousin. And for a boy, I don’t know.” Ahura was kind of a go-to for the Inhuman Royal Family since Crystal let it slip that Medusa and Black Bolt liked the name but if both Maximus and Triton had sons then only one could use the name. Nobody would question Dorma’s decision to name her child after her famous cousin, whose death was a key factor in Atlantis’ decision to join the UN after centuries spent hiding from the menace of the surface world.

Maximus began teaching Pietro diplomacy when they weren’t occupied with Luna’s training. Holly was a natural but further down the line of succession, which would be a slight to certain states they maintained alliances with. Attilan represented Earth as much as any of the deputy ambassadors Maximus trained, being the first state to secure a treaty with aliens. On occasion, Pietro had trouble keeping his mouth shut against a smart remark but the part he seemed to struggle the most with was delegating to the deputy ambassadors. Holly agreed to work with him on that when Maximus stepped away from his duties to focus on Auran and their child but they had to make it look like Pietro was in charge. As acting heir during the Talos mission, he had some experience with politics but he was still far from the master Maximus was. While training his substitute, the Crown Prince was already thinking about how to tell their alien contacts that he would be unavailable for several weeks, if not longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I did alright on describing Maximus and Auran's office. Being astronauts with stock in a space travel company, they keep their things compact. Anything you imagine they might need in their office (fax machine, printer, etc) is in the all-in-one.  
> Lemme know if anything came off as confusing.


	3. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maximus and Auran find some reassurance

The two pairs of parents-to-be made their announcement together then hunkered down in the embassy to wait out the media storm before Triton and Dorma returned to Atlantis. Due to their duties in Atlantis, acting as regents when Namor and Sue were out of the country in addition to their regular duties as royals, the couple fell out of touch with their family in Attilan. Taking her workaholic husband’s phone away, Auran set to remedy this problem by catching up with her cousin-in-laws while they waited. Atlantis and Attilan were considered isolated nations, the former due to being underwater. Only select portals were able to interface with those in Atlantis, making it difficult for delegates to return home after an event. The capital of Attilan was similarly inaccessible, all portals within the nation formed a secure network but only a few outside their borders could connect due to their strict security measures.

After entertaining the dual-royals, Auran was tired and Maximus decided to call it a day, having made arrangements on the drive over to the embassy. They settled into their apartment, laying on the couch and watching TV. Kanen had insisted on helping them move as payment for their old apartment so they were able to make the move without asking anyone for help. Instead of a leather couch and coffee table, they had a fabric reclining couch. Their old apartment looked like something out of a magazine and while they were very clean, independent people, the new apartment was clearly lived in. Laundry was the only housekeeping service they accepted and even then, they dropped off their hamper on their way to the embassy once a week rather than expecting the servants to come and clean up after them. Word had gotten around after Maximus was officially named heir that he and Auran cooked their own meals.

The Inhuman super soldier would be able to remember the interview that followed even without his serum enhanced mind:

When they sat on a couch for an interview, they angled themselves towards each other without turning their backs on the interviewers and Maximus had a habit of sitting forward when they had regular seats or leaning back when they were seated at a table. He was relatively sure most people wouldn’t pick up on his body language, Jen did but she and Karnak picked up on everything. More to the point, this particular interview happened so soon after Attilan published its official line of succession that the couple assumed they would be asked about their feelings towards being the official heir and heiress to the throne, they expected a few references to the coup which was a known part of Attilan’s modern history. What they didn’t expect was for the hostess to say “I know this is really off-topic but I feel I have to ask about a rumor going ‘round,” Maximus and Auran looked at each other, both unaware of any ‘rumors’, “That you guys have some special habits that you’ve held onto despite the recent changes. Any comment on that?”

Auran, often the blunter one, said “You’re gonna have to be more specific. We’re not sure what rumor you’re referring to.” Never admit when you have no clue what someone is talking about, especially when cameras are rolling. You can admit to not knowing what they’re talking about specifically but not when you’re totally clueless.

“Well, I heard, and I wanna know if this is accurate, that you always cook your own meals.” Oh, that, they didn’t realize that was a rumor.

Maximus answered “That is correct. Auran and I are both very self-sufficient people,” he reached out and grabbed her hand, making sure to look her in the eye “Recent years have made that truer than ever.”

Auran took her cue and tore her gaze away to look at the interviewers, “Cooking is really just a small thing anyone can do to spend time together.” She smiled, “Plus, it’s a great way to make sure that we aren’t just co-existing, that we’re actually living together as a couple. It’s easy to skip out on dinner, unless you’re responsible for making half then it becomes a little harder to justify.”

The host and hostess both nodded and voiced their agreement. “Okay, now let’s get back to what we were talking about before,” said the host, “What is it like going from the lower caste to Crown Princess, Auran?”

“Well, technically Crystal and I shared that title for years, just as Maximus and Pietro shared the title of Crown Prince but to tell the truth, it’s been an adjustment now that I’m officially first in line for the throne. Crystal has been the People’s Princess for a long time and she’s definitely been a lifesaver during this transition. Like you said, I’m from the lower caste and nobody really seems to get what that means. When I was a kid, the caste you were born into determined your education and Terrigenesis determined the caste your children would be born into, assuming you were able to have children. I’m kinda playing catch up, learning everything Medusa had to learn when she held the title Crown Princess and Pietro had to learn when he married Crystal. It’s been an experience, that’s for sure.” Although the length of her answer made it seem very revealing, she had actually reiterated many things that were public knowledge.

Maximus was drawn from his musings by Auran grabbing his hand, “Stop thinking so much. Psychic bond, remember?”

“I remember. I was just thinking about that interview we did after the official line of succession was published, the one where we made cooking dinner seem intimate.”

She chuckled “I remember.”

“We’re in this together,” said Maximus.

“Yeah, I know.” The defenses tracked everyone in Attilan, enabling Louise to locate people without invading their privacy so the odds of her tapping into the cameras at a bad time were slim. “You have all the books memorized and I trust you.”

“I love you,” Maximus wasn’t like his brother, or Medusa, or, frankly, most people. He didn’t throw around phrases like ‘I love you’ and he wasn’t overly affectionate unless he was putting on an act for the public. He was more like Jen and Karnak, very serious people who said what they meant and meant what they said, wasting no time on regrets.

After his psychic powers ‘kicked in’, Maximus was taught to anchor his mind with Auran. Loss of control was so overwhelming that he often anchored himself by yanking her hand to his forehead in a gesture Black Bolt and Medusa had adopted as one of affection. Once he had fully mastered his gift, he was able to mimic their adaptation. First taking one of Auran’s hand in his then raising it as though to kiss her fingers in a very chivalrous gesture before bowing his head at the last second so his forehead rested on the back of her hand. Black Bolt was often more showy when he used the gesture and for a while, everyone did it. Maximus’ public mask was such that nobody questioned the brothers mimicking each other in this way, even though the Royal Family all knew the truth and even teased the prince about it when the fad began. Black Bolt was the only Attilan royal to truly adopt the gesture, Triton used it once at an event before learning its true origins from a flustered encounter with his cousin/King and Queen. Pietro even remarked on that once, or rather on how the public hadn’t caught onto it. Usually when sharing part of Black Bolt’s language, the entire family took to using the sign to ensure proper translation. The public had decided Maximus was copying Black Bolt and never remarked on how he was the only one doing so, possibly because Maximus was known to be fully fluent in his brother’s language among others. Still if there was a smart remark or joke to be made, Pietro could be trusted to find it.

Maximus realized after a moment that he was hearing Auran’s thoughts and realized that she had grabbed his hand to enhance their psychic bond, an effect made possible by his own psychic powers. His mind was strong enough to sweep away any intrusion, although he often didn’t notice unless the intruder tried to do something. The Boltagon brothers shared in some of Maximus’ training, shoring up Black Bolt’s mental defenses in the process.

They weren’t alone in this nor were they totally clueless. They could do this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter had a lot of background pushed in but this whole story is about world building so I hope it came out okay. Lemme know what you think


	4. Taken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calvin and Luna are kidnapped as part of a conspiracy

Usually, Gordon could only teleport to various places around the planet. He, like everybody else, had to use the portals to travel to and from the capital. That is why Holly and Louise were shocked when he crash landed in front of them, seemingly having teleported under his own power. A shout of “Kora!” left his lips before he lost consciousness.

Louise quickly accessed Lai Shi’s security system, muttering “Oh no,” as she saw what led to Gordon’s unexpected arrival.

Holly waved Royal Guards over and had them take Gordon to a healer, informing them “He is a Lai Shi Elder and head of their border guard, not a threat,” to ensure they did not arrest him.

The two women gathered the family for an emergency meeting, Crystal asked “What happened?”

Holly began “Gordon crashed right in front of us, yelled his dead sister’s name then passed out. Louise knows why, right?”

The technopath said “Sorta. Looks like Lai Shi was attacked, Gordon was pulled off the border to help clear the site of the fight and wound up joining the fight when the attackers targeted his son. Somehow, they threw him up here and took the kids, Calvin and Luna, before leaving. Lai Shi police are trying to figure out how they got in or out of the city but they just started their search. Lockdown has been initiated, they are in the process of counting people and inventorying the city to make sure nothing was taken or left behind.”

“How long ago was the attack?” asked Medusa.

“It ended shortly after Gordon arrived and we called the meeting within a minute of his sudden arrival. The Lai Shi police are following protocol. Once they are sure that only Luna and Calvin were taken, nothing and nobody else, then we’ll get the initial report.”

Crystal asked Holly “What exactly did Gordon say before he passed out?”

“He just yelled the name Kora. I went through the states’ records after that tribute scandal and found a partial file created in the name Kora Li.”

“Partial?” Pietro was confused.

Gorgon explained “Files made on citizens who died before the database was created are always incomplete. So Kora’s dead?”

Holly confirmed, “Suicide, 1983. She had some energy power she couldn’t control. In the end, she stole a gun, fled Lai Shi and killed herself before anyone noticed she was missing. Gordon wrote her file after discovering they were half-siblings so it’s not anymore unbiased than most. Unlike her brother, Kora’s paternity was a secret. I think Gordon might’ve been guessing on Li being her father. Either way, it’s not hard to fool Gordon.”

“Because he’s blind?” inferred Pietro.

“In more ways than one but Kora’s existence isn’t known to outsiders, you guys didn’t even know Jiaying had another daughter. I don’t know, maybe he’s right and she was there. We don’t know how Gordon got here. His power doesn’t usually reach this far.”

“That’s true,” agreed Pietro. “Timing of this is terrible.”

“Yeah, you got the Darkhold ritual coming up and the kids are still transitioning.”

“Crap, I actually forgot about the ritual.”

“To be fair, you’ve only had to do it once before in Luna’s lifetime.”

“Actually, I’ve only had to do it once, period. The ritual renews the bonds keeping the monsters from the Book of Sins contained.”

“What happens when you die? Does all Hell break loose?”

“No, Wanda and I already started training another set of twins to take over.”

“Who?”

“Loki’s kids.”

“So Billy and Tommy are actually Luke and Max?”

“Yeah.”

Holly told him “You can use my workstation, Louise and I can double up for a week.”

Louise agreed “I don’t even really use mine and in a few days, Attilan will be locked down so you’ll have to do it here.”

“Thanks,” said Pietro. “Focusing on the problem at hand.” Louise pulled up the video of the attack and Pietro observed “Stealth really wasn’t a priority.” He asked her to pause it on a certain frame, “Those symbols.” He retrieved one of his magic tomes and flipped through it, “Oh no.”

Crystal asked “What is it?”

“I know how they got out, question is how’d they get in.”

Crystal understood her husband’s cryptic words, “Those are portal markings. Were they anchored?”

Pietro looked at Louise who slowly resumed the video and stopped on his signal. He said, “Yes, they were anchored. No, it doesn’t help us,” preemptively answering the obvious follow up.

“How?” asked Holly. “Aren’t anchors specific to either the mage or the individual ritual.”

“They are but those anchors would send us on a wild goose chase, these guys are dimension hopping. The portal sends the kids somewhere and the anchors lead pursuers elsewhere.”

“Does this have anything to do with the Darkhold ritual?”

“No.” Pietro consulted his book, “Although Luna does have a title from that. She’s the second Daughter of the Darkhold because magic is like that.”

“Your sister once said you had enough titles to fill a sheet of notebook paper.”

“I do and none of them are self-proclaimed, I never made up a name for myself.”

“Quicksilver was a HYDRA weapon designation then?”

“Yup but let’s not get into that.” Pietro kept reading and rereading passages. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe you could tell us what made you say ‘oh no’ the first time you went through that book.”

“Oh, right.” He looked up and pointed at the symbols he had seen “Does everyone know what portal markings are?”

Holly said “Based on the name, I’m guessing they’re markings of a portal. You know where the kids went, don’t you?”

“Yes but this set is indicative of a one-way portal. I can’t just copy them and retrieve the kids with my speed.”

“And you can’t make it two-way because?”

“It’s a prison portal.” Looking around, he explained “This shouldn’t have worked, prison portals aren’t used as much as you’d think because they have a ton of rules attached. This is a last resort portal, there’s no two-way variant of the signs. Usually prison portals can only be made one-way but in rare cases, there is a way to make the portal two-way. When I say it’s a last resort, I mean the portal leads to a prison that is totally isolated from everything else. Over their centuries of use, sorcerers and witches have discovered that while many prison portals can only be opened one way, there are ways out of the prisons they lead to.” He closed the book and set it down at his feet. “It’s like this. You banish someone through a prison portal, somehow meeting all the convoluted criteria, then that person finds a way to go from the prison dimension to another dimension and after a bit of dimension hopping, they ultimately find their way back to our world. Last resort portals are intended for those people, the dimensions they lead to are totally isolated. They’re only accessible through portals and those portals are all one-way.”

“What are you saying? That we can’t get them back?” asked Holly.

“I’m saying it’s never been done according to our records,” he picked up the book, “Not that it’s impossible. People used to say the Darkhold was impossible to destroy, I managed that to save my sister from the Demon of the Darkhold.” Pietro fidgeted with the book, looking at the still image from the attack “The thing about these prison portals is that they are all last resorts for human magic users, the preparations can be time consuming and the magic involved is draining. I may practice ritual magic but I do have enough natural magic to sense other kinds. If someone had set this up in advance, I would’ve noticed.”

“So you’re saying Terrans couldn’t have done this?” asked Maximus.

“Couldn’t have, least natural born Terrans and resurrection magic doesn’t work very well for humans, time travel might but if Kora shot herself then I assume her body would’ve been brought back to Lai Shi. None of this makes sense.”

For days, they went in circles like that, trying to figure out what happened and hitting brick wall after brick wall just as they started to get a working theory. Despite wanting to put all of their attention on finding Luna, the Royal Family had other duties that kept pulling them away. Louise and Holly had created a program to make automated briefings so everyone could be brought up to speed before joining the two women in Louise’s workroom.

On day two of Luna’s disappearance, Holly ducked out with Louise’s help to attend a press conference his father had planned to announce her brother Adam’s ascension to the role of CEO. Holden had been named Adam Isaacs’ godfather in Aaron Isaacs’ will, which set the boy on the path to becoming a young CEO. In spite of objections from various sources, including Agnes Radcliffe, Adam used the press conference to introduce his two soulmates, Carly and JT, to the world. Triads were extremely rare, usually consisting of one romantic bond and two platonic. As a compromise, Adam did not tell the gathered press that he had dated both of his soulmates, letting them think he and Carly shared the romantic bond while JT was part of the two platonic bonds that were expected of a soulbond triad.

As the ritual time neared, Pietro contacted Loki using his sigil and discovered both of his sons were taken. By sharing what they both knew, they got some answers. Pietro told the family, “Loki thinks this might be about the Ragnarok keys.”

“The what?” asked Gorgon.

“When Loki ascended the throne, the measures Odin All-Father had put in place to keep Ragnarok at bay were failing so he devised his own set of security measures. Loki, working with several others from across the Nine, created a set of artifacts. He basically replaced the locks and made new keys to match. These keys to Ragnarok took many different forms and each was given to one of the deadliest people in the universe, not just the Nine Realms but the whole universe. The keepers of these keys are called Godkillers and there are only two ways a key can be taken from its keeper. First, Right of Blood, the key is simply inherited or given to another. Second, Right of Conquest, someone seeking the keys formally challenges the Godkiller to a duel for the key and wins that duel. Loki believes that someone is trying to get around the rules, to force Godkillers to surrender the keys. Alternatively, because this is Loki and he never looks at anything from just one angle, this could be a different kind of power grab. I shared what we found and he’s going to look into it then call back, I told him to use the actual coms to call back.”

“What’s the other power grab?”

“They could just be after magic, Luna and Loki’s kids are both from powerful magic bloodlines. Loki’s not sure but he’s got people working on different angles.”

Holly did him a favor by suggesting “You should start preparing for the ritual. We don’t need Cthulhu crashing the party.”

“Chthon and point taken.” He left the room to get Holly’s workroom set up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every ten years, Pietro completes a ritual to keep the ancient evil that was bound by the Darkhold from escaping. If he doesn't do the ritual, the whole world would be in grave danger. As much as he wants to dedicate himself to finding his daughter, he cannot risk the whole world by not doing the ritual. What good is getting her back if the world is destroyed in the process  
> Lemme know what you think. I'm almost done with the next chapter where we get some explanations as to why Jen is going by her birth name


End file.
